Nat Sciver shows stellar performance yet avoiding ‘boiling point’

• Nat Sciver had Player-of-the-Match on her return from a three-month absence.
• Sciver missed two home white-ball series against India in early September.
• She claimed emotional weariness from the previous nine months.
• England defeated West Indies by 142 runs in Antigua.
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Nat Sciver wants to avoid “boiling point.”  Sciver had a Player-of-the-Match performance on her return from a three-month absence to care for her mental health and wellness as England defeated West Indies by 142 runs in Antigua. She claimed that she felt happy and comfortable again.

She missed two home white-ball series against India in early September. She claimed emotional weariness from the previous nine months, which included an away Ashes series, 50-over World Cup in New Zealand, England hosting South Africa, and the Commonwealth Games.

“It’s a tricky one because obviously, as an athlete representing your country, you don’t want to miss out on anything,” Sciver said. “You never want to say no to something. You don’t want to miss a training session. You don’t want to miss a trip.

“Between tours, we have periods where you can have time off and things like that, but there’s always a bit of cricket in the back of your mind, knowing that you’re going to be back in three weeks, four weeks, whatever it is. You need to get back to being in a fairly okay physical state and ready to be training again.

“But I think I just got into a place where I didn’t utilize these days, weeks because I didn’t have the motivation to do things away from cricket. I just had poured all of my energy into that and wasn’t able to spare anything. I guess that’s why it all got to a bit of a boiling point for me. That’s why it’s so important to take the time when you can get away from cricket when you can, to create a bit more longevity in your sport.”

Sciver hopes to never step back again. She anticipates England Women’s talent pool to grow, allowing more players to visit. It’s not an outlandish possibility, given that England gave international debuts to teens Alice Capsey and Freya Kemp, as well as seamers Issy Wong and Lauren Bell, aged 20 and 21, this summer.

Sciver’s ability to admit she needs a break is excellent, but she has the plan to avoid it from happening again.

“I had a chance to think about that whilst I was off and put it into practice whilst we’ve been training at home,” she said. “For me it was about getting regular contact with someone, either our team psychologist or just the medical staff that have been around our group for a long time, who are part of our wellbeing tea, and catching up with them and making sure I’m voicing things.

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“Because my character is so sort of steady and there’s not huge highs and lows about me, it can be quite difficult to, I guess, read when I’m not doing so well. But I guess that’s something that I’ve been working on for a while and we’ll continue to do that. I guess it’s about recognizing, or trying to recognize when something’s not right and making sure I get to that early.

“Then just being able to do things away from cricket. Obviously, I won’t have loads of time in a row to do things away from cricket but making sure I’m ticking things off, a little thing every day, and making time for myself as well.

“So far, so good, but we’ll see how it goes. I don’t want to get to a place where I have to take time off again, so I’m doing everything I can.”

Sciver “didn’t pick up a bat or ball other than for the dog” You wouldn’t know it once she returned to her match-winning ways in Antigua. Capsey’s broken collarbone terminated one of England’s brightest prospects’ tour.

Sciver has stepped down as vice-captain for the West Indies trip, which continues with ODIs on Tuesday and Friday and five T20Is. However, she remains part of the team’s off-field leadership group, together with captain Heather Knight, acting deputy Amy Jones, and senior spinner Sophie Ecclestone.

Sciver said it was hard to decide when to return to an official leadership role with the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February.

“Playing my first game I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel or react,” Sciver said. “I want to use this trip to get back to enjoying my cricket and being able to express myself on the pitch, as I have done in the past. Having that leadership title was something that I was keen not to be part of, and just try to focus on myself for this trip.”

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